CHAPTER 21
Maddie slammed into the tree with a force that knocked her off her feet. With a gasp of pain, she rose to a kneeling position and massaged the growing knot on her forehead, feeling the tender bump and the beginnings of the headache that would follow. Something chattered in the tree above her. A squirrel perhaps, woken by the vibration of her impact.
Enough of this. It was too risky running through the unyielding blackness. Her arms were scraped raw from bouncing off the rough-barked pines, and twice her long hair had become tangled in branches, precious seconds ticking by while she freed herself from their grasp. With the frantic hope that she’d created enough distance between herself and Dart to hide the beam, she switched on the flashlight. Head wounds were no treat, but a b
